Hundreds of Daesh rebels emerge in Kunar: Police chief

ASADABAD (Pajhwok): The Kunar police chief says hundreds of Daesh or so-called Islamic State (IS) militants have emerged in the eastern province, receiving training from foreigners.

Maj. Gen. Jumma Gul Himmat in an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News said the exact number of Daesh fighters in Kunar was not clear, but they were in hundreds and had started their activities from Chapa Dara district.

He said the militants had training centers in Batash mountainous area of Nari district which were run by foreign Daesh fighters.

The IS fighters have also appeared in Mazar Dara area of Norgul district and mountainous areas of Watapur and Manogi districts, the police chief said.

He said Daesh wanted to find a permanent foothold in Kunar in order to extend their activities to other provinces.

“Kunar has a complex geography and shares a long border with neighboring Pakistan and this maybe the reason Daesh wants to build their bases here”, he said.

He said Afghan security forces were fully prepared to deal with Daesh and the issue had been shared with the central government. The central government was asked to equip Afghan forces in Kunar so they were able to crush Daesh.

Himmat said NATO’s Resolute Support (RS) mission had carried out 14 airstrikes on Daesh militants in different parts of Kunar since the start of the new solar year (March 22).

Military operations would continue in Kunar until all hideouts of the militant group were destroyed, the police chief said.

Apart from local insurgents, foreign terrorists were also active in the province and were involved in training and equipping new fighters and launching attacks, he said.

Himmat said before Daesh could create problems for the Afghan forces, they were targeted in joint air and ground operations in Manogi, Chapa Dara and some other parts of the province, in which hundreds of fighters and commanders of the group were killed.

The police chief said they would destroy all IS fighters in Kunar if equipped enough. He said the central government had promised equipping security forces with advanced weapons.